The Board of the Riigikogu on Thursday accepted a bill that would provide the legal framework for ridesharing services such as Uber.

The bill would set minimum requirements for the provider of a ridesharing service and the electronic system necessary. The bill is based on the principle that ridesharing should take place without interference by the government as much as possible, while at the same time in accordance with market conditions, spokespeople for the Riigikogu said.

In accordance with the bill, ridesharing could be provided with a vehicle with up to nine seats. A service like this is would not be considered a taxi service, and the vehicles performing the service could not be similar to taxis in their appearance.

Cars providing this kind of service could not wait for customers at taxi stands, or pull over when hailed, but would have to be ordered via an electronic service.

Simultaneously, the bill would loosen the requirements for taxi drivers and shift more responsibility to the organizer of a taxi service. Among other things, the bill calls for a lifting of the requirement to have a vehicle card, and for the drivers to have completed a training course in providing a taxi service. The authors of the bill say that training could be made a requirement for businesses instead.

The bill, which according to spokespeople for the Riigikogu will open the taxi service market to competition, was initiated by 23 MPs from all parties of the ruling coalition. The bill was drafted by Reform Party MP Kalle Palling in conjunction with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications.